Silk Road Dormant Bitcoin Addresses Activate with SegWit Transfers

Two Bitcoin wallets, inactive since the days of the infamous Silk Road marketplace, have recently sprung into action. Earlier in the year, the two wallets transferred over 3,400 BTC. In a more recent event on Dec. 10, significant consolidation of these funds was observed. Analysts point out that the wallet activities are likely related to re-keying the assets to newer Segregated Witness (SegWit) addresses, a protocol upgrade that improves block capacity and scalability for the cryptocurrency. The pattern of transfers has shown no signs of the bitcoins being moved to exchanges, suggesting that the wallet owners are not preparing to sell the cryptocurrency. Forensic data analysts continue to monitor the situation closely, as movements from such historic accounts are often of interest to both investors and law enforcement agencies.